Floor-cleaning machine

ABSTRACT

A floor-cleaning machine with a cleaning tool which is adapted to be driven by a motor and is rotatably journaled between two supporting arms, said supporting arms being provided with plug-in coupling means for rotatably engaging and supporting said cleaning tool, said supporting arms together with said cleaning tool being pivotable selectively from a position within the housing to a position outside the housing and vice versa.

United States Patent Wiirwag Feb,22, 1972 [54] FLOOR-CLEANING MACHINE [72] Inventor: Eberhard Wtirwag, Stuttgart, Germany [73] Assignee: Progress-Elektrogerate Mauz 8: Pteitfer,

Stuttgart, Germany [22] Filed: Apr. 6, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 25,699

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 5, 1969 Germany ..G 69 13 820 [52] US. Cl ..l5/49 [51] ..A47l 11/18 [58] Field olSearch ..15/49 C, 50 C, 366, 368, 371, 15/372, 373, 383, 384, 179,5, 4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,572,987 2/1926 Campbell ..l5/44 R 3,012,267 12/1961 Kemnitz 15/372 3,204,281 9/1965 Lamken et a1. ....l5/372 X 3,448,485 6/1969 worwag ..l5/372 X Primary Examinerl.eon G. Machlin Attorney-Walter Becker [5 7] ABSTRACT A floor-cleaning machine with a cleaning tool which is adapted to be driven by a motor and is rotatably journaled between two supporting arms, said supporting arms being provided with plug-in coupling means for rotatably engaging and supporting said cleaning tool, said supporting arms together with said cleaning tool being pivotable selectively from a position within the housing to a position outside the housing and vice versa.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures FLOOR-CLEANING MACHINE The present invention relates to a floor-cleaning machine in which the dust is picked up by suction, and which is equipped with a motor operable cleaning tool that is rotatably journaled between two supporting arms. The cleaning tool may be formed, for instance, by a roller-shaped rotatable body and may be provided with beater elements and/or brush means.

With heretofore-known floor-cleaning machines, the cleaning tool is mounted in such a manner that it is firmly supported between two bearing areas. The drive of the cleaning tool is effected, for instance, by a transmission belt which is guided between the said two bearing areas of the cleaning tool on the latter itself through the intervention of a pulley. With this type of mounting, the cleaning tool has the drawback that the cleaning tool can be exchanged only after a complicated disassembly and assembly. For instance, for exchanging the cleaning tool, a number of screws frequently with different pitch have to be loosened, ball bushings and ball bearings have to be removed and adjusting screws have to be withdrawn. This disassembly work make it practically impossible to employ a plurality of cleaning tools in the course of one cleaning cycle. With the various floor coverings which now-a-days are normal in a house or apartment, it is indispensable when cleaning such floor covers, to employ the respective most favorable cleaning tool.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a floor-cleaning machine of the above-mentioned general type which will make it possible to exchange the cleaning too] in a minimum of time and in a simple operation.

These objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 represents a top view of a floor cleaning machine according to the invention with the housing cover opened up.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line lI-II of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates on an enlarged scale the portion encircled in FIG. I by the dot-dash circle X.

The floor cleaning machine according to the present invention is characterized primarily in that the cleaning tool is journaled on supporting arms by means of plug couplings which are easily detachable in axial direction, while at least one plug coupling is movably arranged in its axial direction. As a result thereof, the cleaning tool can easily be detached from its bearing and can be exchanged, for instance, for another cleaning tool.

It is particularly advantageous in this connection when the supporting arm which is provided with the movable plug coupling is movable in an axial plane of the tool and is preferably pivotably mounted so that by pivoting this supporting arm outwardly, the coupling is detached from the cleaning tool, and the cleaning tool can be withdrawn from the oppositely located coupling.

In order to be able without disassembly work on the driving connection with the motor, to detach the cleaning tool, one plug coupling, preferably the plug coupling oppositely located to the movable plug coupling is drivingly connected to the motor, for instance, by means of a belt drive. Due to the fact that this driving connection is provided only with the stationary plug coupling with regard to the axial direction of the cleaning tool, a simple construction of the floor-cleaning machine is obtained.

The detachment or exchange of the cleaning tool is furthermore facilitated by another feature of the invention, namely, by the fact that the cleaning tool with the two supporting arms is pivotable upwardly out of the machine housing which is preferably covered by a cover so that also the cleaning tool will be easily accessible at the upper edge of the machine housing and can be handled accordingly.

If the supporting arms consist of a resilient material, a separate pivotal mounting of the supporting arm carrying the plug coupling is not necessary for detachment of this coupling because in this instance it is merely necessary to pivot the supporting arm outwardly against the spring force of the latter. In

view of the resilient design of the supporting arm, also a safer holding of the plug coupling in its condition of operation will be realized.

It is furthermore possible to pivot the supporting arms on the housing by joints, preferably so. that the supporting arms are pivotable about an axis which is parallel to the tool axis so that in particular for relatively great pivot movements for withdrawing the cleaning tool from the machine housing, an easy mounting of the supporting arms will be assured.

The supporting arms can be interconnected by at least one spring so that by means of springs they can be moved toward each other. If the spring is formed by a traverse, and if this traverse is located between the mounting of the supporting arms on the machine housing and the cleaning tool, preferably parallel to the axis of said cleaning tool, the two supporting arms are held against each other so that they cannot unduly move perpendicularly to the axis of the cleaning tool in a direction toward each other.

According to a further feature of the invention, the supporting arms form one piece with the housing and are preferably made of synthetic material so that a particularly simple construction of the floor-cleaning machine can be realized.

The supporting arms may in a simple manner by double joints, preferably so-called film joints, be pivotally journaled on the housing in two planes located transverse with regard to each other while the film joint may form one piece with the machine housing and/or with the supporting arm.

For purposes of precisely centering the cleaning tool with regard to the plug couplings, each plug coupling comprises a preferably crowned extension which is rotatably mounted on the pertaining supporting arm and is adapted to engage a recess on the end face of the shaft of the cleaning tool.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 shows a floor cleaning machine with a housing 1 which, in the vicinity of its rear side, is mounted on rollers 2 and has its front portion resting on the floor by means of a skid 3. The skid 3 defines a longitudinally extending substantially rectangular opening 4 through which extends a cleaning tool 5 partially downwardly for engagement with the floor surface to be cleaned. The cleaning tool 5 is rotatably mounted on a horizontal shaft which extends perpendicularly with regard to the working direction. In order to move the floor-cleaning machine over the surface to be cleaned, a handle mounting 6 is provided at the rear range of the housing upper side for receiving a handle bar or the like.

In a housing chamber located in the rear section of the machine housing there is provided a motor blower unit 7, the axis of which is parallel to the axis of the cleaning tool. This blower unit 7 produces the necessary suction by means of which the soil loosened by the cleaning tool 5 is drawn into a dust collector, not illustrated. The motor blower 7 further more serves for driving the cleaning tool 5 which at one side of the housing is adapted to be drivingly connected to a pulley 9 which is drivingly connected with counter gears 11 through a belt 8, said pulley 9 being coaxial with the cleaning tool 5. The counter gears or transmission 11 are adapted to be driven by the motor blower unit 7. The transmission 11 serves for reducing the speed of the cleaning tool.

The pulley 9 is rotatably mounted on a supporting arm 10. At the oppositely located housing inner side there is provided a further supporting arm 12 which is adapted by means of a plug coupling 113 to be connected to the shaft of the cleaning tool 5. In a corresponding manner, also the pulley 9 has a nonillustrated plug coupling for the detachable connection with the other shaft end of the cleaning tool 5. The two supporting arms l0, 12 are in spaced relationship to the cleaning tool 5 pivotable about a horizontal shaft in the machine housing 1 and extend from the pivot axis in the direction toward the front side of the machine housing I. Furthermore, the two supporting arms 10, 12 are interconnected by a traverse [5 which extends parallel to the axis of the cleaning tool 5 and is located between said tool 5 and the pivot mounting of the supporting arms l0, 12 on housing 1.

The front portion of the top side of the housing chamber receiving the motor blower 7 is provided with a cover 14 which is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis which is parallel to the axis of the cleaning tool 5. When said cover 14 is in its downwardly pivoted connection, it closes the housing chamber in which the cleaning tool is located. After pivoting the cover 14 upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 2, the supporting arms 10, 12 can be pivoted upwardly about the horizontal pivot axis, so that the cleaning tool 5 will, above the upper edge of the machine housing, be easily accessible. In this position, the supporting arms l0, 12 can be held, for instance, by an angle-shaped pivotal abutment having associated therewith a counter abutment formed by a traverse 15 which represents a spring. In this outwardly pivoted position, one of the two supporting arms, for instance, the arm 12 is, in conformity with FIG. 3, resiliently tilted away from the cleaning tool 5 so that the plug coupling 13 will disengage the cleaning tool 5 and the latter can be withdrawn from the plug coupling on the supporting arm and thus can be completely detached.

, Inversely, another cleaning tool can be inserted so that subsequently the supporting arms l0, 12 together with this new cleaning tool can be pivoted downwardly into working position.

The plug coupling connected to the pulley 9 and arranged on the supporting arm 10 is so designed that it will be suitable as bearing element for the cleaning tool 5 and can also be used for transferring the torque to said cleaning tool.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular showing in the drawing, but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A floor cleaning machine, which includes: housing means having a bottom with a cutout therein, two supporting arms pivotally supported by said housing means, motor means located within said housing means, cleaning tool means drivingly connectable to said motor means and rotatably supported by said arms, said arms being pivotable from a first position in which said cleaning tool means is within said housing means and partially extends through said cutout to a second position in which said cleaning tool means is outside said housing means and vice versa, at least one end portion of said cleaning tool means being provided with coaxial recess means, and at least one of said arms adjacent said recess means including plug-in coupling means for selectively engaging said cleaning tool means to rotatably support the same and disengaging said cleaning tool means to selectively service or exchange said cleaning tool means.

2. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which that arm which includes said plug-in coupling means is pivotable selectively toward and away from said cleaning tool means.

3. A machine according to claim 1, in which at least one plug-in coupling means is provided with transmission means for driving connection with said motor means.

4. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 3, in which said transmission means comprises a pulley.

5. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said supporting arms together with said cleaning tool means are pivotable to such an extent that said cleaning tool means is outside of said housing means.

6. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said supporting arms are of resilient material.

7. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim I, in which said supporting arms are of resilient synthetic material.

8. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said plug-in coupling means comprises a crowned extension rotatably joumaled in one end portion of the respective supporting arm and adapted to engage the respective cutout. 

1. A floor cleaning machine, which includes: housing means having a bottom with a cutout therein, two supporting arms pivotally supported by said housing means, motor means located within said housing means, cleaning tool means drivingly connectable to said motor means and rotatably supported by said arms, said arms being pivotable from a first position in which said cleaning tool means is within said housing means and partially extends through said cutout to a second position in which said cleaning tool means is outside said housing means and vice versa, at least one end portion of said cleaning tool means being provided with coaxial recess means, and at least one of said arms adjacent said recess means including plug-in coupling means for selectively engaging said cleaning tool means to rotatably support the same and disengaging said cleaning tool means to selectively service or exchange said cleaning tool means.
 2. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which that arm which includes said plug-in coupling means is pivotable selectively toward and away from said cleaning tool means.
 3. A machine according to claim 1, in which at least one plug-in coupling means is provided with transmission means for driving connection with said motor means.
 4. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 3, in which said transmission means comprises a pulley.
 5. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said supporting arms together with said cleaning tool means are pivotable to such an extent that said cleaning tool means is outside of said housing means.
 6. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said supporting arms are of resilient material.
 7. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said supporting arms are of resilient synthetic material.
 8. A floor-cleaning machine according to claim 1, in which said plug-in coupling means comprises a crowned extension rotatably journaled in one end portion of the respective supporting arm and adapted to engage the respective cutout. 